


Basically, We're Coming Out

by rainbowchristy



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Coming Out, Dating, Gay, M/M, YouTube
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:47:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23441950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowchristy/pseuds/rainbowchristy
Summary: Dan and Phil have decided to come out again. Only this time, they're coming out as a couple.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 14
Kudos: 62
Collections: Phandom Writers Discord 2020 Spring Fic Exchange





	1. Basically, We're Gay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [counting2fifteen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/counting2fifteen/gifts).



> Prompt: coming out pt 2 (they come out as dating)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: None.

When Dan sent the email, he knew there was no going back. He looked up from his computer and smiled at Phil who, in return, squeezed his knee before turning back to the TV that was playing The Great British Bake Off.

It wasn’t until the next day that things were set in motion. Hector, or more commonly known as ShittyWatercolour, had emailed back an attachment of the contract Dan had sent him. Basically, it just said that he wouldn’t share any of the details discussed until permission was given by the contractor (i.e. Dan).

After last time, Dan was pretty sure he wouldn’t have said anything. He was a nice guy after all, but this was something Dan wanted to do on his (and Phil’s) terms. Too many times had their relationship been speculated on and too many times had it caused a depressive spiral.

_Hey Hec-bro,_

_Thanks for the contract. So this video idea is similar to Basically I’m Gay but instead of me coming out as a gay boi, it’s gonna be Phil and I revealing we’re a couple (surprise?). So I’ve attached a few ideas for works I’d like if you could draft them for me (us?)?_

_Thanks,_

_Your favourite long (and still very gay) boi,_

_Dan_

“It’s sent,” Dan stated, unsure where to go from there.

Phil turned to look at him, grinning. “That’s good, isn’t it?”

“I think? I’m still scared he’s gonna just go tell everyone. I’m still surprised he didn’t tell anyone about BIG. Like, people have speculated for so long, how did he not say anything?”

“He signed a contract, yeah?” 

Dan nodded. 

“And he signed another one. He won’t say anything, Dan. He’s not a bad person.”

“I know, there’s just, like, always that fear that he could say something.” Dan sighed, uncrossing his legs so he could stand up. “Ready for breakfast?” he asked, already making his way out of the lounge and into the kitchen.

“Uh - there may be an absence of Crunchy Nut in the kitchen!” Phil shouted after him.

“Damnit, Phil! Next time I’m going to buy ten family boxes!”

Phil knew he was only half-joking. He’d probably come home with two or three boxes, and even then it’d only last a week or two at most.

~~~~

It was a week later that Dan came to Phil. “What do you think? Is it too much?” he asked, arms crossed over his chest, something Phil knew he did to protect himself.

“It’s good,” Phil answered, looking over the draft again. He patted the couch beside him and Dan took a seat, cuddling into Phil’s side.

“Are you sure?”

“Dan,” he said, causing his boyfriend to look up at him. “It’s perfect,” he whispered, kissing the top of Dan’s head. “How about we watch some anime? Take your mind off it for now?”

“That sounds perfect, Phil, thank you.”

And so that’s what they did until nightfall, by which time Dan had received an email with drafts from Hector.

“Phil! Phil look!” Dan shouted, bursting into the bathroom where Phil was having a shower, causing the man to squeal and attempt to hide his modesty. “Really?” Dan asked, eyebrow raised. He laughed. Phil’s cheeks tinted redder than the hot water accounted for.

“What?! I’m in the shower; I don’t expect to be barged in on!” he squeaked defensively. Dan just laughed at his boyfriend.

“I got drafts from Hector,” he coughed out, eyes trailing Phil’s body, unashamed. Phil stepped out of the shower, having just rinsed his hair, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

“Well? Let’s see them!” Dan placed his laptop on the edge of the sink and clicked on the first attachment.

“Well that’s gay,” Phil said, only to be shoved by Dan.

“We’re gay, you doofus.”

Once they’d looked through all of them, they were both incredibly happy with the quality and presentation. So after one last not-so-innocent look at his boyfriend, Dan left the bathroom and headed for his bedroom to reply to the email.

_Hey Hector (I’ll use your real name now cause I’m a professional),_

_Thanks for the drafts! Phil and I are very happy with them! We can’t wait to see the final results!_

_\- Daniel James Howell(-Lester)_

_P.s. That’s a joke, we aren’t married (yet ;))._

Dan re-read his email and sighed, realising he should delete the joke about them being married. That was probably a bit much, and it’s not like it was even a plan. They weren’t engaged, they were happy being just boyfriends.

Phil called out through the house, “Danny boy! Where you at?!”

“Bedroom!” he replied, laughing as he pressed send. And _oh fuck_ he forgot to delete the married part.

“Thinking of having some fun, huh?” Phil grinned, stepping into Dan’s bedroom and coming up behind him. He was still only in his towel.

“Yeah, I was replying to a very important work email and now I’m super horny.”

Phil laughed, shrugging. “Work emails would have gotten you hot and bothered when you were nineteen.”

“Oi!” was all Dan said back. What could he say? It was true, after all.

~~~~

“Hello, internet!” Dan said, grinning up at the camera.

He hadn’t been in this position since he filmed ‘Basically, I’m Gay’, and it felt weird to be there again. It felt even weirder with Phil just off-camera.

“I’ll spare you the long, probably boring details covered in this video. The TL;DR of it all is that Phil and I are gay, together. Like, two gay bois who date and fuck and I’m gonna edit that out.”

Phil chuckled, grinning at him.

~~~~

They spent the whole day filming and filming and filming again. Dan insisted it needed to be perfect, anything less than wouldn’t do.

And after a week of non-stop filming, Dan was happy enough with his takes to start editing. He grabbed his laptop from the barstool it was on and clutched it to his chest.

“Do you want any help?” Phil offered, turning off the camera. Dan, completely not joking, hissed in reply. Phil just smiled and waved him off. “Have fun then; I’m here if you need me!”

Dan took three months to edit, to the day. The problem was that it was now June 30th and Dan was panicking because he wasn’t ready to ‘come out’ again.

“What if they don’t believe us?”

“What if they think it’s a prank?”

“What if they hate us for not telling them sooner?”

All the ‘what if’s were doing Phil’s head in. He couldn’t help it though, he just wanted Dan to be proud of who he was and what he was achieving.

“Dan, it will be fine. I promise.”

“But what-”

“No more what-ifs, Dan, you’re driving me mad. Here, sit down and we can press Publish together, okay?”

Dan looked at Phil, eyes still filled with fear and what could have been shame.

“Okay.”

“Good boy,” Phil teased, sticking his tongue out.

They sat next to each other, as close as possible, and Dan opened the laptop. Youtube was already open, on his channel with ‘Basically, We’re Gay’ being the most recent video. He clicked on it and navigated to the ‘edit video’ section, where there was an option to make the video public.

Dan glanced at his boyfriend, who smiled warmly at him and who squeezed his leg in support.

“Okay, ready?” Dan said, placing his finger over half the enter key. Phil placed his over the other half.

“Never been more ready.”

And with that, they pressed down.

And the page reloaded.

And the viewer count went up.

And the likes skyrocketed.

And the comments poured in.

It was done.

There were no more secrets.

~~~~

“Hello, internet,” the video started.

“Relationships, secrecy, and a whole lot of internalised homophobia. Staring Daniel Howell and Philip Lester. One of the greatest mysteries of all time. Is phan real?

“Spoiler alert! Phil and I are gay, and together. Like, two gay bois who date, and fuck, like normal gay bois who are together.

“One of the greatest mysteries of the last decade, maybe aside from where the fuck memes come from: Phan. Is it real? Is it all a hoax? Let’s find out!

“As many of you know, Phil and I met back in ripe old 2009, before Prince Harry abandoned our beloved country and before Mr Donald Trump was elected into Presidency.

“I was but a wee little teenager with long emo hair and self-esteem so low it reached the Earth’s core.

“But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, to truly understand why we’re making this video today, we must go back to when I first discovered Mr AmazingPhil’s YouTube channel.

“It was a day in September, I remember that because I was looking for editing tips to help with my brother’s birthday. I don’t remember the exact day, I didn’t know that day would change my whole life.

“I remember thinking how fake he was, how no one could be that genuinely happy. I think I was salty because Mum had been narking on me to get the present done. And me, being the depressed 17-year-old emo I was, didn’t want to listen. But anyway, Phil, or AmazingPhil as I’d known him as, was this happy-go-lucky YouTuber studying at Manchester University.

“Anyway, it wasn’t until 2009 when I first commented on a video. It’d simply read _‘hey buddy, can I have some editing tips?’_ as I’m sure a lot of you phan stans know.

“In I think May or June, I got a reply from Mr AmazingPhil. By this point, I was a proper fan, and not long after this, we started talking more and more.

“Phil wasn’t just any regular internet friend, and wow I never thought I’d say regular and friend in the same sentence. Anyway, Phil was special with his emo fringe and ‘striking blue eyes.’

“Over the next few months, we talked. And I mean a lot; it was hours a day. It was probably unhealthy how dependent I’d become on a complete stranger four years older than me. Luckily my parents didn’t know; I wouldn’t be surprised if they confiscated all my stuff had I told them.

“On the 16th of October 2009, I posted a faithful - and frankly now traumatising - video: _Hello Internet_. Now, this wasn’t a spur of the moment thing; Phil had been suggesting I make videos for a long time and my gay ass who had definitely developed a crush at this point, didn’t want to let his idol down.

“And three days later, on October 19th, 2009, Philip Michael Lester met little Daniel James Howell at the train station.

“I’m not going to share too much on that trip. It was a personal and deeply meaningful trip to me and I’m not ready to share that with the whole of the internet.

“We filmed the first PINOF then, a series I’m sure you all miss but we’d ultimately decided was best to discontinue.

“Anyway, Phil and I started gaining fame quickly once people realised we were a duo. And with that, came the shipping. Now, it wasn’t that bad at first; it was a good joke between us and no one had to know the relationship rumours were actually true.

“That was until 2012. A well-remembered year, but not for good reasons. It was when the phans kicked it up a notch. The questions never stopped: _Are you and Phil dating/fucking/together? Are you gay? Does Daniel Howell is gay?_ Okay, that last one didn’t get asked. But you get the point.

“Even though we’d been together for a few years, I was still ashamed of my sexuality. Years of conditioning can do that to a person, thanks, British education system. Anyway, Phil respected my wishes, as I knew he would, and we decided to keep us a secret for a bit longer.

“But this didn’t stop the rumours. And It all came to a head with one particular ask. Now keep in mind I’d been getting these asks for at least a few months now. And with each one, I’d collapse a little more.

“I was, to put it simply, very depressed. I’d stay in bed all day, every day, I’d hardly eat or shower. Phil became responsible for both of our careers and myself, which I have only recently begun forgiving myself for.

“And so when I was asked if I identified as a homosexual, which I didn’t and still don’t, I snapped. I tweeted ‘FYI I like vagina’ which in hindsight probably didn’t help my case but I’d had enough. Not only were people prying into my private life, but they were also attacking my brother for answers and they didn’t believe me when I answered anyway.

“I am not gay, but it is the closest word we as English speakers have to describe me. But you aren’t here to listen to me rant. You want to hear the story of how Phil and I got to where we are today.

“We’d lived together by this point and we moved around a few times, eventually finding this place which I think we are both very happy with - at least while there are only two of us.

“When we both decided to come out last year, we weren’t sure of the response we’d get. We knew the phan rumours would become a focus yet again but we were both in a much better place than we were in 2012.

“And you all shocked us, a lot. There were hate comments, of course there were, but the positive ones were the overwhelming majority. And I will be forever thankful for your support. That support is a big reason I’m making this video today.

“I know I haven’t uploaded since this time last year, and before that, it was mid-2018. It’s been a long time. But these last two videos have been very important to me.

“As many of you know, I’m a perfectionist, and Phil had to tell me so many times that these videos were good before I even got to the stage of exporting the video.

“To see so many of you sticking around, even with one video a year, was really heartwarming. And I knew I was ready to ‘come out’ one last time. So here it is, no fireworks, no jokes.

“For all of you out there wondering, Phil and I, we are a couple. We have been dating since we met in October 2009, and I’d say we are soulmates, except, as I said before, souls aren’t a real thing that exist.

“And look at that, coming out a second time also didn’t cause me to implode. Woop-de-do, it’s a miracle.

“Anyway, I’m working on coming back to youtube, but Phil and I are beginning to settle down in life. Neither of us are ready to disband the phandom yet, even though I know it’ll still exist long after us - you persistent little shits.

“We are independent people. I’m doing things Phil’s not; Phil’s doing things I’m not. Us dating does not change that. But anyway, I think I’ve ranted enough for today. To end this video, I’m simply going to say thank you.

“Thank you to all of you for sticking around with me when I’ve literally posted one video a year.

“And thank you to Mr AmazingPhil, you’ve brightened so many lives, but you’ve brightened mine the most.

“Anyway, I’ll sign off now. Bye!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! It's been like a year since I wrote anything so it could be really shit.
> 
> Come say hi over at my [tumblr](https://catatonichristy.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Also, Pt 2 (i.e. Phil's video) should come out in like a week or so.


	2. Coming Out to You… Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “A week or so” in my language means a few months :P
> 
> TW: None.

“Hey, guys!” Phil said, waving at his camera. “Today I’m here with Mr Daniel Howell! Gasp, I know! And today we’re coming out in a very Phil way if I do say so myself! If you haven’t seen Dan’s video, we’re dating, and have been since back in 2009. In traditional YouTube fashion, I’ve decided this rat-” 

“Oy!”

“-and I will be reacting to old videos and never before seen phan content. Strap yourselves in, lads! This is gonna be a wild ride!”

The video cuts to a clip from the first Phil Is Not On Fire.  _ “This was the most fun I’ve ever had,” Dan said, looking off-screen. “Woah!” Phil tackled him to the ground, before peppering kisses all over his face. _

_ They sat back up and Phil grinned at the camera; Dan was too busy blushing. “You know you’re gonna have to edit that out, right?” Dan said, eyes downcast. _

_ “Bear, when will you realise that people don’t care? People ship us, Dan. They want us to be together.” _

_ Dan’s features transformed from saddened to angry. “I fucking know that! But that doesn’t mean I want them knowing!” Dan stood and stormed from the room, leaving a guilty-looking Phil behind. “Sorry guys. That’s gonna be it for today. See you all next time! Bye!” _

“I remember that; you had to come and get me before I stormed off to the train station. Honestly, I wouldn’t have put it past me.” Dan - current day - looked sad as he remembered how reserved he was, how afraid he was.

Phil grabbed his hand and squeezed, and out of sheer reflex, Dan’s gaze found the viewfinder to check if it was on camera. “It doesn’t matter anymore, remember?” Phil grinned, having seen Dan’s instinctual reaction.

Dan grinned back, eyes still sad though. “Right,” he said, lifting his and Phil’s hand so they were in shot. He pulled Phil’s close, kissing it before lowering their hands again.

“Anyway, back to the video!”

“Noooo, I can’t view fetus me anymore! I’ll die of shame!”

“Don’t be such a drama llama,” Phil laughed. Dan swatted him over the head.

_ “Play gay chicken with Phil,” Dan read, turning to look back at his boyfriend who simply looked shocked. The scene cuts. “Okay Phil, I know this is something you’ve been looking forward to,” _

_ “I don’t want to do it.” _

_ “Do it. You have to.” _

_ “No.” _

_ After more back and forth, Phil finally relented and raised his hand to the inside of Dan’s knee. Slowly, ever so slowly, he began to move his hand towards Dan’s crotch, getting not even halfway before Dan swats him away, shouting, “Get the fuck off me, you weirdo!” _

_ “But you told me to-” _

_ “You freak! People like you should be arrested!” _

“It sounds like I’m talking about gays,” Dan laughed, looking at the camera with a pointed look. “Remember kids, gays should definitely not be locked up!”

“Besides, I’ve gone further than that before,” Phil confessed, looking at Dan with a look the phandom calls ‘love-eyes Lester’.

Dan looked temporarily shocked. “Are you keeping that in?”

Phil chuckled, a little unsure. “Yeah; it’s not like we’re a secret, Dan.”

“True. I keep forgetting we’re about to be out to everyone. Somehow this is scarier than coming out as gay.”

“They’ll be nice, you know they will be. And even if they’re not, we have each other. No one else matters, remember?”

“Yeah,” Dan smiled. After a pause, he realised, “You know we don’t have to edit that out this time?”

“Oh yeah, that’s weird.” A cut. “Anyway, back to the video!”

_ “Explain why you can’t vlog at parties,” Louise said, swinging the camera to include Dan in the shot. _

“Oh god, no not this video!” Dan wailed, sinking into his seat in shame. “I remember how much this destroyed the phandom!”

_ “Because there will be some youtuber making out with someone in the corner and then there will be-” _

_ “It will be Jack-” Louise cut in. _

_ “Making out with my hand,” Jack laughed. _

_ “It will be Jack making out with his hand,” Dan agreed. _

_ “You were gonna say you and-” _

_ “No, I wasn’t- It’s Jack making out with his hand.” _

“You can see how flustered you were,” Phil laughed. “You can see you going ‘how do I get out of this? Quick, back to Jack and his hand!’”

“Oh shove off!” Dan laughed as well, lightly pushing Phil. “Seriously though, I wasn’t going to say ‘Dan and Phil in the corner making out’. I swear I wasn’t.”

“Sure, we all believe you, Dan.”

“I mean we have been in that position before, I don’t think a clip of it exists anywhere anymore. It probably does somewhere. I’m onto you, demon phannies! Jk, love you all, your shipping shenanigans are hilarious.”

“Anyway, next up is Japhan! And before we start, yes there was only one bed. I’m allowed to share a bed with my boyfriend, okay?” Dan informed, making Phil laugh.

_ The clip began with Phil standing in front of a claw machine with big plushy cubes within. The claw went down, clasped around the cube, and began to lift, letting go of the cube. _

_ “Oh my god. Oh my god. No!” Dan sighed. Phil turned around, looking sad. Then the clip changed. _

“Fun fact! Phil spent close to thirty pounds at that machine! And he would have kept going too if he hadn’t finally succeeded at it!”

“I wanted to get it for you! You thought they were cute!” Phil justified.

“Well, yeah. But you used my money to get them ‘cause you’d spent all yours!”

“Do we still have it?”

“It’s in the lounge somewhere.” There was a cut to a hand-filmed clip which showed the plushy cube in the corner of the lounge, next to the window. It had a tray on it, clearly being used as an end table.

_ “So, you opted not to have a Japanese breakfast, and for lunch, you’ve taken us to a burger cafe.” _

_ “I’m sorry! I promise we’ll eat something Japanese today!” Phil defended. Dan laughed before there was a cut again. _

“I remember that lunch! Duncan and Mimei were so surprised at how I ate the sudden death sauce. It really wasn’t that bad,” Dan informed the camera.

“It was! It was awful!”

“Don’t be such a baby, it was nice!”

_ “What I’m interested in is how much is the cardboard cutout of Haru?” Dan said, completely serious. _

_ “Ha-Haru-chan,” they said in sync, making each other laugh. _

“I let my true gay show in that shop,” Dan chuckled.

“It’s okay, Dan. We all know how much you crush on Haru.”

“It’s why I like you; blue eyes and black hair, pale-translucent skin. You are the real-world Haru.”

“Oi.” Phil lightly shoved Dan, making him lose balance and fall off his chair.

“What, now we’re reliving these moments are we? Is Five Nights At Freddy’s in here?” Dan laughed from the ground.

“No, but we can add it if you want,” Phil informed. He held out his hand to help Dan up.

_ “I really wanted to survive five nights!” Dan said, still half in his now fallen over chair. Phil was sat on the sofabed, hands over his face. _

_ “I wanted to survive!” he agreed, voice muffled. _

_ “We made it two and a half,” he informed. _

_ “Well, you know what they say: it’s not a good start to a gaming channel spooky week unless you’re cleaning brown stains off your furniture.” _

“Wait wait wait, do we have the unedited version of that?” Dan asked, looking at Phil since he’d edited the video.

“Uh, probably somewhere, why?”

“We need to find it!” Dan said instead, not answering Phil’s question.

_ “We made it two and a half,” he informed. _

_ “Half way! That’s not bad!” Phil said, voice still muffled. He sighed, standing to pull the chair out from under Dan so the younger could get up off the floor. “Is anything hurt?” _

_ “My elbow,” Dan answered. After making the chair upright, Phil stepped forward and took Dan’s arm so he could kiss his elbow. Dan, now with a smirk on his face, said, “My ass hurts too.” _

_ “Dan!” Phil reprimanded, before pausing. “Maybe later,” he winked. _

_ “Jesus Christ, Phil!” Dan complained, blushing now. _

“You think after ten years of making videos, we’d be better at avoiding sexually suggestive comments while on camera but I think we’ve actually gotten worse,” Phil commented, blushing at his past self’s actions.

“We?! I think you mean  _ you _ , I never make unintentional innuendos!”

“Dan, you are far more inappropriate than me; there’s no question about that.”

Dan pouted. “No, I’m not.” Phil then leaned forward and kissed his lips, making the younger grin.

“That is going to be giffed so much after this video goes out.”

“You bet!”

_ “Are you excited to hang out with me on a plane for twenty-three hours?” Phil said, pushing his side against Dan (who was in a kangaroo suit). _

_ “Oh my god, we’re leaving tonight. I haven’t emotionally prepared myself for that! What the hell?!” Dan said, internally panicking. _

“See, the thing is, you made it out to be the worst thing in the world, but we literally just watch our own movies and maybe held hands if we’re lucky,” Phil informed.

Dan nodded in agreement, laughing. “It’s our persona, Phil! Besides, we were still too tall for a twenty-three-hour flight.”

“We will never not be too tall for planes. Maybe we should quit youtube and design planes for tall people!”

“No offence, Phil, but anyone who willingly gets on a plane you’ve designed, deserves the death that awaits them.”

“Hey!” A cut. “Anyway, I think that’ll do us for this video! Give me a thumbs up if you enjoyed! Maybe we can do this again one day, there’s plenty of clips to use! If you like my stuff, you can subscribe to me here and to my wonderful boyfriend, Dan, over here! Anyway, thanks for joining us on this trip through the past ten years of our lives together and I will see you all next time! Bye!”

They both waved to the camera before sighing, grins on their faces. “That was fun,” Dan said as Phil got up to turn the camera off.

“It was!” Phil excitedly agreed. “Maybe we could do another Tumblr tag after all the stuff that is sure to come in response to our videos,” he thought aloud.

“Are you sure you want to subject yourself or your boyfriend to that?”

Phil looked at him, eyebrow raised. “First off, don’t refer to yourself in the third person, it’s weird. Second, you spent all day every day on Tumblr, and a good portion of that is on the phan tag.”

“Toosh.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Constructive criticism is always welcome!
> 
> Also, come say hi over at [my Tumblr](https://catatonichristy.tumblr.com/)!


End file.
